For a week, they rolled smoothly and happily through their offense and each other. Then the
Toyota Center
lights came on Tuesday, another team got in the way, and suddenly the Rockets bogged down in many of the ways they had last season when they ditched the offense they had enjoyed so much in training camp. With the offense that inspired all those glowing reports ragged and stagnant throughout the night and both teams terribly mistake-prone, the Rockets trudged their way to a 96-93 win over the

Memphis Grizzlies
to open the preseason. With that, the rave reviews came to a halt. “I was disappointed in the way we played offensively,” Rockets coach
Rick Adelman
said. “We were better than that all week long. I think it’s a great game as far as us breaking the film down and showing it to them.” Besides gaining a fresh batch of tapes for the next pre-practice session, the Rockets had other positives to glean from the night, ranging from
Carl Landry
’s energetic and effective play to
Ron Artest
’s early burst in his first game with the team. Landry led the Rockets with 18 points, going 7-for-12 in 23 minutes. While much of his scoring was reminiscent of his midyear run last season, with Landry finishing inside — often above the rim — he also hit four jumpers, including one from 23 feet with 1:41 left that gave the Rockets a 92-90 lead. In keeping with their inconsistent play, the Rockets threw the ball away on the next two possessions. But after struggling much of the night,
Aaron Brooks
drove to the game-winner, hitting a runner from nine feet with 16.3 seconds left. The Rockets clinched the win when
Rudy Gay
, who had an often spectacular nine-point fourth quarter, airballed a 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds left. Gay began the night matched up against Artest and did little early. Artest also gave the Rockets a much-needed early offensive lift, scoring 12 of his 15 points in the first quarter and making three of his five 3-pointers. But on a night when little would come easily, he made just one of five shots in the second half and four of 12 overall. “I’m not going to try to do too much,” Artest said. “I’m going to try to stay in my slot. If I have to do a little more, I prepared for it this summer, so I’ll be ready. It’s the first game. We have a lot to work on. We need to get better every quarter.”
Yao Ming
, despite struggling so much in the first quarter that he said he felt like a rookie again, looked fully recovered from last season’s stress fracture. On one occasion, he got the rebound on one end and was the first player down the floor on the other. After missing his first four shots, he dropped in a jump hook, scored on a spin move to a lefthanded layup, and finished with 10 points and nine rebounds in 22 minutes. “It (felt) new,” Yao said. “I think eight months not playing NBA games — this high-intensity, high-speed game — in the first quarter, I felt like I am new here.” Yao’s struggles, however, were the struggles of the offense. He took just one shot in his first 10-minute stretch, and that was blocked by
Hakim Warrick
, who often swarmed to him while the Rockets stood around. “They were coming at him,” Adelman said. “They were surrounding him. You just can’t come down, make one pass and give him the ball. Their whole team is in position to come at him. We did a better job in that third quarter, going away from him, swinging the ball and getting some movement where now, he can move with that movement, catch it and score. You can’t just come down and be so stagnant in the offense.” That described the Rockets’ night. But with an often rough preseason opener, like the heartening training camp, behind them, the Rockets believe better days are ahead. “Every game’s important,” Artest said. “But once you get your first game under your belt, it should run smooth.”
jonathan.feigen@chron.com